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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS PUBLISHED BY Project 39A National Law University, Delhi Sector 14, Dwarka New Delhi 110078 Published in January 2021 National Law University, Delhi 2021 All rights reserved WRITING Gale Andrew Aishwarya Mohanty RESEARCH ASSISTANCE Ashna D Harjaap Singh Ahluwalia Varsha Sharma DESIGN Anuja Khokhani INDEX List of Contributors 2 Foreword 6 Methodology 7 Overview of Legal Developments in 2020 8 Highlights 9 Cumulative Figures on Persons Sentenced to Death 10 State-wise Distribution of Persons on Death Row 11 Death Penalty Cases 2020 12 Sessions Courts in 2020 13 Number of Death Sentences Imposed by Sessions Courts 13 State-wise Distribution of Death Sentences Imposed in 2020 14 Nature of Crimes for those Sentenced to Death by Sessions Courts in 2020 16 Death Penalty in Cases of Sexual Ofences 18 High Courts in 2020 20 Nature of Ofences in Confrmations and Commutations by High Courts in 2020 22 High Court Confrmations in 2020 26 High Court Commutations in 2020 27 High Court Acquittals in 2020 30 High Court Remitted Cases in 2020 31 Supreme Court in 2020 32 Nature of Ofences in Confrmations and Commutations by the Supreme Court in 2020 36 Supreme Court Confrmations in 2020 40 Supreme Court Commutations in 2020 42 Analysis of Supreme Court Decisions in 2020 43 Mercy Petitions 48 Death Warrant 49 Executions 2020 51 Case Timeline 52 Case History 54 Curative Petitions 55 Mercy Petitions 55 Post-mercy Writ Proceedings 56 Death Warrants 56 Legislative Developments 58 Final Observations 59 CorreCtions to Annual Statistics 60 FOREWORD This is the ffth edition of the Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report published by Project 39A at National Law University, Delhi. Over the course of fve years, the law and the implementation of the death penalty in India have seen signifcant changes. 2020 saw the only execution in these fve years, with the execution of Mukesh, Akshay Kumar Singh, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Kumar on 20th March 2020. They were convicted and sentenced to death for the gangrape and murder of a woman in Delhi in December 2012. In 2018, the highest number of death sentences was imposed in a single year over two decades. 2019 and 2020 saw a decrease in the number of death sentences imposed, with 2020’s drop a result of the pandemic’s impact on court functioning. However, the proportion of cases of sexual violence has steadily increased over the years, now constituting 65% of cases in which death sentence was imposed by trial courts in 2020. This indicates that sexual violence is increasingly infuencing the implementation of the death penalty in India. Corresponding to this shift, these fve years have seen the legislative expansion of the death penalty for non-homicide ofences of sexual violence. Amendments to the Indian Penal Code in 2018 and to the Protection of Children from Sexual Ofences Act in 2019 introduced the death penalty for non-homicide child sexual abuse. In addition, both Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh introduced bills that imposed the death penalty for non-homicide rape of adult women. Exceptional contributions by Ashna D (IV year law student at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi) as well as Harjaap Singh Ahluwalia and Varsha Sharma and (II and V year law students at National Law University, Delhi respectively) were instrumental in the development of the new database and in compiling the statistics for the present report. None of this would have been possible without the eforts of Varsha Sharma and Pritam Raman Giriya (V year law students at National Law University, Delhi) who were instrumental in the development of the directory and in the publication of annual statistics reports since it was frst published in 2017. Lubhyathi Rangarajan, Peter John, Poornima Rajeshwar, Rahul Raman, Neetika Vishwanath and Preeti Pratishruti Dash have played key roles in authoring previous editions of the report. 6 METHODOLOGY Over the course of fve years, we have made signifcant improvements to our recordkeeping and analysis processes. In 2020, we developed a consolidated database to record and track death sentences imposed since 2016, along with a manual that would guide data entry and ensure uniformity in classifcation. This has resulted in changes in the statistics from previous editions, particularly relating to the nature of ofence. A comprehensive list of changes made has been provided at the end of this report. Our methodology for data collection has remained consistent across these fve years. We track news reports of death sentences being imposed by trial courts across online news outlets in English and Hindi. These numbers are then verifed against judgments uploaded on High Court and district court websites. The High Court websites serve as a verifcation of the data, allowing us to track appeals fled against death sentences imposed by trial courts for which news coverage may not be available. The High Court websites remain the most accurate method of tracking, as every death sentence imposed by a trial court must be confrmed by the High Court under section 366 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Nearly all websites are functional and allow the accurate tracking of death sentence matters. We also send RTIs as a second level of verifcation. But in 2020, we only sent RTIs to Home Departments and High Courts of four states for which the High Court website proved unreliable in identifying the status of death sentence cases. We have consistently found that delayed responses and repeated transfers of applications to diferent departments prevent the extensive use of this data. The lack of coordination between diferent ofcial sources afects the accuracy of compiling even simple data like this, and speaks to larger concerns with data on the criminal justice system in India. Notwithstanding these limitations, we are confdent that this report presents a fairly comprehensive dataset on the death penalty in India in 2020. 7 OVERVIEW OF LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS IN 2020 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, courts all over the country were limited in their functioning. This resulted in a drop in the number of death sentences imposed in 2020, with 77 death sentences imposed by trial courts, involving 76 prisoners, compared to 103 sentences in 2019. However, this is not the lowest number of death sentences imposed in a year. As per available data, this took place in 2001 at 66 death sentences imposed. About 62% of the death sentences this year were imposed before the lockdown was frst announced. The 48 death sentences imposed in the frst three months of 2020 were more than double the number of death sentences imposed in 2019 in the same period, which saw 20 death sentences imposed in that time. Even 2018, which saw the highest number of death sentences imposed in two decades, had far fewer death sentences imposed, with 27 imposed in the same time period. Due to the impact of the pandemic, there was a signifcant drop in the number of death penalty cases decided by the appellate courts as well. High Courts across the country decided 30 cases, with the death sentence being confrmed in three cases and commuted in 17 cases. Five cases were remitted and fve resulted in acquittals. The Supreme Court passed judgments in multiple proceedings in a total of fve cases with one case resulting in the execution of four convicts. Two of these fve cases involved the ofence of rape and murder, two involved kidnapping with murder and one involved murder simpliciter. In 2020, the proportion of death sentences imposed by trial courts for crimes involving sexual ofences was the highest in fve years at 65%, an increase of 11.54% since 2019. In particular, in 48% of cases involving sexual violence, the victims were below the age of 12, with 18% of such cases having adult victims. It would appear that sexual violence, particularly child rape, is increasingly defning the enforcement of the death penalty in India. Mukesh, Akshay Kumar Singh, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Kumar were executed on 20th March 2020 for the gangrape and murder of a woman in Delhi in December 2012. The last execution prior to this was the execution of Yakub Memon in July 2015. The Maharashtra Cabinet approved a Bill to introduce death penalty for non- homicidal rape of adult women and acid attacks, which has been referred to a joint select committee of the Legislative Assembly. The Andhra Pradesh legislature passed an amended version of a similar bill, frst introduced in December 2019, with the death penalty clause for such ofences since excluded. The bill is now awaiting Presidential assent. These proposed laws represent the continued legislative expansion of the death penalty for non-homicide ofences that began with amendments to the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Ofences Act in 2018 and 2019 respectively. 8 2020 saw the highest proportion of sexual violence cases in fve years, with 65% of the total death sentences imposed by trial courts involving cases of sexual violence. Executions were carried out in India after a gap of four years. Mukesh, Akshay Kumar Singh, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Kumar were executed on 20th March 2020 in Tihar Jail for the gangrape and murder of a young woman in December 2012. A Bill introducing the death penalty for the non-homicidal rape of adult women and acid attacks was approved by the Maharashtra Cabinet and is pending consideration by a joint select committee. The Andhra Pradesh legislature passed a revised version of a similar bill with the death penalty clause for similar ofences since excluded, now awaiting Presidential assent. 9 CUMULATIVE FIGURES ON PERSONS SENTENCED TO DEATH Prisoners Sentenced to Death 404 as on 31st December 20201 Prisoners Sentenced to Death 378 as on 31st December 2019 Prisoners Sentenced to Death 426 as on 31st December 2018 Prisoners Sentenced to Death 366 as on 31st December 2017 Prisoners Sentenced to Death 400 as on 31st December 2016 4 PERSONS WERE EXECUTED ON 20TH MARCH 2020.

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